Alex Balkanski

Alex Balkanski, CEO of Picarro Inc.; excerpted from an interview with the National Museum of American History, November 18, 2014

My father was born of illiterate parents in Bulgaria. He escaped Bulgaria when the Communists took power right after the Second World War, and my mother was born in Casablanca, Morocco which was a French Protectorate. They met in Paris in the late 50s, married in Paris, and I was born in 1960. I went to public high school in France, stayed in France until I was 18, then left for college in the U.S, which was a rare thing to do at the time. People in the late 70s, early 80s came to the U.S. to graduate school for a couple of years or more, but rarely came to college. I have asked myself many times why I came to college in the U.S…It was such a watershed decision. I have no better answer than the fact that there was a general sense of discomfort and a lack of belonging, or a lack of a good feeling about the society and the environment I was in. Once I arrived in the U.S. I felt like my entire world had changed.

I applied to two schools, Harvard and MIT. Both of them took me, and I remember at once people telling me that the educational system and the environment in France was plenty good enough. Wasn’t it good enough for me? What did I need to go to the US for? I think a kid now would have an easier time [but] it was unusual then. I went to Harvard. I brought so little. My mother insisted that I take two suitcases. One of them was empty; the other one was half-full. I didn’t have very much. I had never lived outside home. I had traveled a little bit, but mostly with my parents. I didn’t have any idea what to take, what not to take, but she insisted on two suitcases. I thought, “I’ll take two suitcases; maybe I’ll sell one.”

I started going to school. I started feeling very tired in the late afternoon. Thinking I was sick, I went to the health services. They didn’t see anything wrong with me. [Later] I realized that the concentration it took for me to try and follow classes in English was making me exhausted by the mid-afternoon. [Then] I had this astounding revelation that by being supported, and having teachers that wanted my success, I could do truly great things. I developed this perception that if you really want me to succeed, it’ll make an enormous difference, and I will do my very best to make you proud. I felt this amazingly, positively reinforcing environment. And then I came to Silicon Valley and worked with astounding people. I discovered that it’s an environment where I thrive and where I am happy and fulfilled. It’s the best thing that ever happened to me.

[C-Cube] became very successful, then had real challenges, then became successful again. There's no one time when a company becomes a success. It's more an all-absorbing and all-encompassing effort. We were in our most difficult position after we had gone public. I think it's a very personal, very trying experience, but I can't imagine doing anything else: doing my own show with people that care similarly. It's the great American thing to me.

After C-Cube, I joined a venture firm. I thought to get myself out of harm's way and help others be successful; [but] I don’t really much like the venture business. It's too remote from making things happen. So, today I am running one of my portfolio companies. So, I have found a blissful way to contradict every rule I set for myself, and I'm running a company again. I like it very much. It's my thing. That's what I do.

Being American is the greatest gift, the greatest thing that ever happened to me. I'd like America to be the great, bright light upon the hill. I'd like America to continue to inspire young fools like me and attract them, and I'd like America to staple a green card to every PhD, every Master’s degree, and by and large, all the good people of the world that want to come here, because that changed my life like nothing else.

An unedited transcript of this oral history is available for scholarly research through the Archives Center of the National Museum of American History.